Hack for the Community

Hack for the Community is a 36-hour gathering of Nashville’s best visual designers and software developers for the purpose of building technology solutions for local nonprofits that will make an impact in our community.

HCA Healthcare and the Nashville Technology Council (NTC) are partnering together again with business partners to bring together IT professionals to solve problems for local nonprofits in 2020. We welcome you to join us.

Stay tuned for more information!

Nonprofits

Businesses

IT Professionals

Frequently Asked Questions

Started in Silicon Valley in 1999 to foster growth in the software development community, hackathons bring together software developers from all different industries to work on projects which center around specific themes. The goal is to develop creative solutions to invent new products or improve existing products. Much of the Twitter and Facebook functionality is the result of hackathon formatted events.

A hackathon is typically a 24-48 hour event where different groups present problems they are trying to solve. Attendees choose what they want to work on based on the presentations. Small groups form together to develop a specific product(s) inside the time box of the event. The event culminates in a closing ceremony where attendees present what has been created.

The HCA Foundation and other Hack for the Community partners maintain close relationships with more than 200 organizations in Middle Tennessee which closely reflect our mission and values. Hack for the Community is intended to serve a subset of those well-established relationships. If you are uncertain of your eligibility, please contact Caitlin.Nossett@hcahealthcare.com

We strongly encourage all agencies considering participation in the hackathon to register for a coaching call to refine their ideas prior to submission. Agencies can submit their ideas via the submission form on hackforthecommunity.com starting October 2017.

(Nonprofits) If your proposal is selected, you will receive an email notification by Dec. 15. Your nonprofit will benefit from:

a custom technology solution built at the 36-hour hack-a-thon

an eight hour day of service to implement the hack-a-thon product and solve other IT problems.

Your nonprofit must:

Identify representative(s) to meet with Hack for the Community leads to scope projects for the hack-a-thon & day of service. Representative(s) must commit 3 full days (in addition to needed prep time) to engagement with volunteers.

Hack for the Community will start at 8:00 a.m. on Thursday, April 12 and continue unitl 7:00 p.m. on Friday, April 13. Your team will identify its own schedule inside the 36 hour window, according to each team members needs and no one will stay overnight. All team volunteer and nonprofit participants are expected to participate on both April 12 & 13.

Up to you! When self-organizing around projects, it's a great question to ask others interested in working on the project. Your team's volunteer leads will reach out to you prior to the event to give you project details and we'll do our best to alleviate any potential issues ahead of the event.

The objective is to create a fun, collaborative environment where volunteers enjoy the process of giving back. Other hackathons have emerged in Nashville and we seek to reflect a similar approach and spirit.

HCA is coordinating a day of service following the hack-a-thon to assist with project implementations. Some volunteers may choose to continue to volunteer with the benefiting nonprofit; however, this is not required. There will also be a limited amount of implementation funds available to assist in bringing projects to completion.